1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage apparatus for storing a transported object from a transporting carriages, which travels along a track. The track is installed on or near the ceiling in a factory or the like. Here, the “transported object” means a product, an intermediate product, a part, an articles, a work, a partly-finished good, a good or the like, or means a box or container for containing such a product or the like, which has been transported or is to be transported by the apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a manufacturing facility for the semiconductor device for example, a transporting system may be utilized in which a transporting carriage such as an OHT (Overhead Hoist Transport) or the like transports the transported object such as a FOUP (Front—Opening Unified Pod) or the like. The OHT travels along the track installed on or near the ceiling. The FOUP accommodates semiconductor wafers therein.
Accompanying the transporting system, a storage apparatus such as a storage rack disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication Laid Open No. Hei 10-109887 may be utilized, as an apparatus on which the transporting carriage temporarily puts the transported object. In this disclosure, the storage rack has a horizontal rack, which is suspended just under the track, and on which the transported object is put.
Here, there may be such a case that, while the putting position (i.e., the position to which the transported object is to be put) as for the horizontal direction or directions is positionally-adjusted, the transported object is put on the storage apparatus. For example, if the transported object is FOUP, the pins for positioning, which define the putting position as for the horizontal directions, are fixed on the rack. The pins for positioning correspond to the holes for positioning. The holes for positioning are formed on a bottom surface of the FOUP. In case of storing the FOUP on the rack, the FOUP is put on the rack such that the pins for positioning are engaged with the holes for positioning.
In this manner, in case that the putting position of the transported object as for the horizontal directions is defined, it is necessary to perform a “teaching operation”, which stores or memorizes the horizontal position on the rack into the transporting system, in advance. Namely, when the rack is installed under the track, the operator initiates the mode for the teaching operation and controls the transporting system to (i) move the transported object above the rack and (ii) put the transported object onto the rack while performing such an adjustment that the transported object is positioned at a predetermined horizontal position. By this, for example, the FOUP is put on the rack in such a condition that the pins for positioning on the rack and the holes for positioning on the bottom surface of the FOUP are engaged with each other. Then, the operator controls the transporting system to store or memorize the horizontal position or the adjustment amount of the horizontal position.
Such a teaching operation is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication Laid Open No. 2006-69687, for example.
On the other hand, there may be a case that it is necessary to remove the storage apparatus, in order to move the rack away from the space below the track, in case of the maintenance of the transporting carriage, the installation of a facility to the floor where the transporting system has been already installed, and so on. Then, when the once-removed storage apparatus is re-installed, the setting position after the re-installation may be slightly shifted from the original setting position before the removal. In such a case, it becomes necessary to perform the teaching operation again after the re-installation. This results in that the operation load for the removing and re-installing operations accompanied by the teaching operation becomes quite high. Further, if it is necessary to remove the whole or most parts of the storage apparatus, the operation load for the removing and re-installing operations themselves becomes quite high.